Day 2

     The Madama Butterfly cartoon was a comedic. The dolls as the main characters morphed the opera into a kind of parody meanwhile capturing the plots essence. The cartoon condenses the events of the original Madama Butterfly accurately and highlights the foolishness of waiting years for Captain Pinkerton. Madama Butterfly finds herself dumbfounded and heartbroken when her only love returns from making a life of his own only to take her child away. The elements that constituted the making of the characters were unique and the realistic imagery added a innovative yet artistic touch to the cartoon.However the most captivating moment of the cartoon is when Madama Butterfly, using a screwdriver, disassembles herself  and turns off the lamp light as a symbolism of suicide.
     The Birth and Life of Opera focused on opera as being the reflection of the era and society that it took place. The narrator emphasized the political undertones behind opera performances and that an opera is a kind of vessel through which societal problems are addressed or alluded to. I thought it was clever of the proletariat to have used opera performances to express the oppression of the bourgeoisie. I learned that opera performance was the invention of a group called camerata. As I mentioned in my earlier blog, I'm in the university's camerata so I found it especially interesting that the original camerata of the 19th century was made up of individuals from many disciplines. Camerata's scientists,  philosophers, poets, and artists gathered in a meeting to discuss the invention of a multimedia art that would combine music with drama. Thus, opera was born. Surprisingly, opera didn't catch on immediately. It wasn't until after it became a tool for the proletariat to make their voices heard that opera began to grasp the masses. It is supposed that Napoleon himself said that Le Mariage de Figaro was the heart of the french revolution. Rescue operas called for universal compassion across all classes to escape unjust imprisonment; there is no doubt that opera was as much a fine art as much as it was a political tool for equality. The people were loudly protesting beautifully, voices on high. A sense of nationalism and pride took over and even dictators saw the uniting effect of opera and used it as propaganda. Today, opera is not as popular however still has a uniting effect on its listeners. As a whole, I found this video to be captivating and very educational.

Day 1

I'm Tracey Mitchelle Carrasco. Mitchelle being pronounced like the female name, Michelle. I am interested in thoughts and ideas. I spend most of my time making observations and have often been described as a dreamer, however this seems limiting. As I stare into the middle space I'm not simply dreaming, I'm planning. It is important that I introduce myself in a way that reveals things less obvious than my age or major. Day one of ARTH 211 was exciting, fast-paced, and admittedly overwhelming.  Day one involved scribbling notes while processing high intensity visuals, explanations, perspectives, and dates. The upside is that I have found the material to be quite interesting and therefore don’t mind the quick tempo. I expect the course to be challenging but comprehensible. I’m looking forward to expanding my knowledge on the history of opera because of my involvement in the arts. I sing in Camerata, the elite all women’s choir which represents the University.

                The video of Raul Cuero’s life inspired me. I admired his ability to conquer social prejudice and transcend limitations he faced as an impoverished, dark-skinned child in a third world country. In the video he stressed the importance of Universality. He said that in order to achieve it, we must not be restricted by society’s limitations; we must go beyond what is expected of us. Being a natural observer, I liked that he also stressed the importance of observation in the creative process. True innovation comes from observation, not an instruction manual, he said.

                In Craig Elimeliah’s article Art vs. Design, I noticed that he was careful in not postulating rigid definitions which I thought to be incredibly important. Because of art’s fluid and free flowing nature, it was a good idea to allow for some blurry lines in his definitions and distinctions. One idea that stuck out to me is Elimeliah’s specificity of what separates art and design most. Art, he said, is unique; it comes from within, not from the past, not from someone else. Design is a piece of art that has been recreated, a reflection of something else but not art in itself.